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April 2, 2021 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la-
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‘Ellensburg 6’
make a stand
The linemen, public employees,
take their cause to the public.
A struggle for a fair union con-
tract for six electric linemen at
the City of Ellensburg, Wash-
ington has galvanized the town
of 21,000 and earned solidarity
from fellow union members
hundreds of miles away.
Members of IBEW Local 77
who maintain the city’s munici-
pal electric utility have been ne-
gotiating since August 2020
over a new contract. Under the
agreement that expired Dec. 31,
2020, journeyman linemen
make $47.65 an hour, roughly
$2 less than their counterparts in
neighboring jurisdictions. They
also have fewer retiree benefits.
Journeyman lineman Bryan
Ring says that lower-than-stan-
dard pay is contributing to high
turnover. Since he arrived in
Ellensburg in 2016, nine jour-
neymen have left. The six re-
maining workers—three jour-
neymen, two apprentices, and a
meterman—are responsible for
a network of over 10,000 elec-
tric hookups in a six-square-
mile Central Washington serv-
ice area half an hour north of
Yakima.
Crew members wanted to
catch up in the next contract, but
instead would fall behind under
the City’s offer of 1% pay in-
crease over the next three years.
The crew voted to reject that in
December.
Now they’re appealing to the
public for support, and getting it.
Yard signs are popping up all
over town. Posters are going up
in business windows. A cam-
paign Facebook page has 828
followers. And members of the
public are turning up at meet-
ings of the Ellensburg City
Council. Streamed on YouTube,
the meetings normally attract a
few dozen views. The Feb. 16
meeting got 1,030 views, equal
to a twentieth of the population
of Ellensburg. A four-hour
March 5 picket outside city hall
drew residents and fellow
IBEW members from as far as
Coeur d’Alene and Seattle.
“It’s really made us feel like
the community supports us,”
Ring said. “All of us belong to
this community. And all we are
going after are fair wages and
benefits.”
–DM